RIAA pays out $107,951.03 in music piracy lawsuit

For the most part we hear of stories where the RIAA has managed to sue individuals for thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars for piracy. For once, the roles have been reversed and the RIAA has had to pay up the sum of US$107,951.03.

The payment relates to the case of Tanya Andersen, a disabled single mother falsely accused of committing an act of piracy. She was originally targeted by the RIAA four years ago for illegally downloading rap songs. At the time she denied the charges and offered her PC to demonstrate her innocence. The RIAA refused and demanded she pay a large fine.

Tanya refused to pay and the case went to court. Her PC was then taken by the RIAA to be looked at and evidence gathered as to her crime. Once reviewed the RIAA refused to submit their findings to the court, but the court insisted and the report said there was no evidence of piracy. More time was given to prove her guilt, but the RIAA could find nothing and dropped the case.

Tanya was rightly upset by the whole episode and decided to sue the RIAA and MediaSentry, the company who collects evidence of illegal downloading. The courts ordered that Tanya’s lawyer fees be paid in full by the RIAA – that was last year.

Since that decision there has been a number of arguments over how much the RIAA should pay. Tanya’s lawyer, Lory Lybeck, originally claimed US$300,000, but the RIAA countered with offering US$30,000. The final award, which was paid this month, came to US$107,951.03 including US$117.03 in interest.

Matthew’s Opinion
To me this is a clear example of why the RIAA get such a bad rep. They are meant to be there to discourage piracy and enforce copyright laws, their website says as much, “Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members’ creative and financial vitality.”

This chain of events shows they are only interested in getting money out of people through intimidation and a total lack of care when it comes to gathering evidence. Four years of Tanya’s life has been spent fighting to clear her name and get her fees paid. There is clearly something wrong if this is allowed to happen and she should have been compensated as well as her lawyer.

The good news is this case has finally seen Tanya succeed and that other defendants now have a historical case that shows the methods used by the RIAA to gather evidence are not 100%.